The origins of the name Orme

Orme Coat of Arms - English

From http://www.orme.ws/genealogy/origins.html


Orme derives from the Old Norse word 'Ormr' and it means Serpent or Dragon.

The earliest records of Orme are in Scandinavia carved on memorial stones in Runic lettering, though there may be others that have not come to light yet. The Runic alphabet (or more correctly the futhark) was used from approximately 300ad to 1200ad.

'Orm' looks like this in Runic lettering:, it can be translated as 'Orm' or 'Urm', sometimes as 'Arm'.

In Swedish Latin and Danish Latin records the name appears as Ormus or Vuormo. In British and Irish records it usually appears as Orme, Orm, Urm, Arm, Horm, Horn, Oram, Orum, Orem, Ormer, or Ormarr.

As the people of Norway, Sweden, and Denmark explored, traded, and raided, they founded settlements in many other European Countries, taking the name Orme with them.

During the Viking era (generally considered to be 798ad-1066ad.), Norwegian Ormes settled in Iceland, the Orkney Islands, the Shetland Islands, the Hebrides, The Færoe Islands, Scotland, the Isle of Man, Ireland, England, and North Wales. Written records and archæology show that there were also Norwegian settlements in Greenland and North America, but these were abandoned.

Danes settled in England and along the west coast of mainland Europe. They reached Spain and Portugal, and then continued into the Mediterranean Sea. In 1002ad, during a single day, the Saxon King, Æthelred (the unready), had all of the Danes living in England put to death. This resulted in a major invasion by King Sweyn of Denmark, and under his successor Knut the Great (Canute) England became part of a Kingdom that also included Denmark and Norway.

Meanwhile Swedes (known as the 'Rus' and the 'Varangi') explored and settled to the East, then South through Russia and Byzantium to the Mediterranean Sea. An Arabian document (written by 'Ibn Fadlan') describes them cruising along the Russian rivers to the Black Sea and the Caspian Sea. Once again, there would have been Ormes amongst them who may have settled in some of the countries.

Old Norse Sagas, written principally in Iceland, and concerning the history of Norway, provide records of several Ormes. The relevant stories, or extracts from them, are included on this website.

Emigration from Europe, especially from Great Britain, Ireland, and Scandinavia, has resulted in large numbers of Ormes in the United States of America, and others in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. A few adventurous individuals went to live in more exotic locations.

There were a few who did not go voluntarily and were transported from Britain as convicts. From 1615 to 1776 the destinations for transportation were North America and the West Indies, from 1787 to 1867 the destinations were Australia and Tasmania.

The most recent major migration of Ormes was in the 1950's and 1960's, when the British Government encouraged families to relocate to Australia by offering to take them there for £10 per family ('Ten Pound Poms' as they were affectionately called on arrival).

As one might expect, not all felt the urge to travel and Ormes can still be found in Norway, Sweden, and Denmark.
In Scandinavian countries the original name was often translated to the Roman alphabet as 'Arme', there are more than 30,000 'Armes' in Scandinavia.

The associated coat of arms is recorded in Sir Bernard Burke's General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884. Registered at Abbey Town County Mayo; confirmed by Betham, Ulster to William Henry ORME Esq. of that place.

The name ORME was a baptismal name from the Old Norman ORMR, originally a byname meaning 'Serpent or Dragon'. The name was brought into England and Ireland by settlers from Denmark and Dauphine, France.

Following the Crusades in Europe a need was felt for a family name. This was recognized by those of noble blood, who realised the prestige and practical advantage it would add to their status. Early records of the name mention Orm (without surname) listed in the Domesday Book of 1086. Augustas Orumme, 1327 County Surrey. Richard Oram, registered at Oxford Univerity in 1609. John Oram married Sarah Lamb at St. George's, Hanover Square, London in 1778.

Family names are a fashion we have inherited from the times of the Crusades in Europe, when knights identified one another by adding their place of birth to their first or Christian names. With so many knights, this was a very practical step. In the 11th, 12th and 13th centuries the nobles and upper classes, particularly those descended from the knights of the Crusades, recognised the prestige an extra name afforded them, and added the surname to the simple name given to them at birth. The associated arms are recorded in Sir Bernard Burkes General Armory. Ulster King of Arms in 1884.

It has long been a matter of doubt when the bearing of coats of arms first became hereditary and it was not until the Crusades that Heraldry came into general use. Men went into battle heavily armed and were difficult to recognise. It became the custom for them to adorn their helmets with distinctive crests, and to paint their shields with animals and the like. Coats of arms accompanied the development of surnames, becoming hereditary in the same way.

Most of the European surnames were formed in the thirteenth and fourteenth centuries. The process had started somewhat earlier and had continued in some places into the 19th century, but the norm is that in the tenth and eleventh centuries people did not have surnames, whereas by the fifteenth century most of the population had acquired a second name.

On Motorcycles

I think that what I miss the most about not having control over my legs is riding the motorcycle. If you read my first post, a metastatic tumor on my spine partially paralyzed me.

The solitude, speed and pure pleasure of riding over Topanga Canyon to the beach at Malibu, and back into the Valley via Las Virgenes (Malibu Canyon) Road has been one of the most pleasurable thing I have done in years. You feel like no one can touch you. The experience is almost religious. Sometimes I would take PCH all the way to Port Hueneme and then come back to the Valley.

It's funny to think that the most important thing for me, aside from seeing my boys, is being able to ride the bike again.

I bought a 1997 Suzuki VS800 (pictured) with 7,860 miles on it for $3500 right after the Fourth of July 2008. I paid way over bluebook for it ($3,500), but I had been looking for a 800cc Suzuki for several months. This was about the time that gas was nearing $5.00 a gallon in Santa Barbara, and there were none to be had. Every ad I responded to had been sold immediately. The bike shops were not even getting that size of bike in trade. Everyone was hanging onto them. When one shop called me and told me that they had taken one in trade (after a few months), I grabbed it. I figured, wtf, it was something I had wanted to do for a long time.

Almost exactly 30 days later, my legs became paralyzed. By that time, I had put over 2000 miles on it, and had several rides of over 100 miles. The previous owners averaged less than 700 miles a year (assuming the bike was sold in 1996), and I was doing 2000/month.

When I told my sister Marianne that I hoped I would be able to ride the bike again, she said that she was afraid that I would kill myself on it. I am not suicidal (it's a religious thing), but I told her that it would probably be better than the slow lingering and very painful death that awaits me down the road.

I have also come to the realization that I would rather have Mike and Alex (the Orme twins) ride motorcycles to school than bicycles. I have known more people killed on bicycles than motorcycles.

When you get hit on a bicycle, there is a large velocity difference. What seems to happen the most is that the driver of a car going 45-50 mph doesn’t see the bicycle going 10 mph on the side of the road and slams into the back of the bike, or turns into it.

The motorcycles biggest threats are cars turning into its path. Left turns at intersections, or right turns right in front of the bike. The closest calls I had were cars in front of me slamming on the breaks on country back roads to make u-turns.

I learned that your best chance of avoiding a crash is to increase your visibility. A white helmet and very light colored jacket help a lot. The shop owners tell me that wearing chartreuse colored vest (light neon yellow green), like the guys working on the side of the road really works.

I went with the Olympia Recon jacket in khaki and the KBC FFR Modular Cruz Helmet, which is wonderful. The jacket has armor panels in the shoulders, elbows and back (like a skater wears, but inside the jacket). I could not find an all white modular helmet in my XXL size. The Jacket is light enough to get me seen, and when I go into a restaurant, or a store, I can unzip the arms and leave them with the bike. I lock them with a cable lock through each arm. I also leave the entire jacket with the bike this way. To steal the jacket, you would need something to cut the cable.

The helmet is great in that you flip up the face to get a ¾ helmet, which makes filling up with gas, or just walking with the helmet a lot easier. It is also easier to put on and take off.

As you must notice, I am bored not being able to walk. Anyway, Alex/Mike, I hope you take a bit of this advice if you get a bike, or inherit mine.

Keep up the Acting Michael

Michael, I hope that wherever you are, and whatever school you are going to, that you are still involved in theater.



Don't let that person who told you that your voice was not good for acting get to you. There is a lot of opportunity for anyone.



I have not seen you any happier than you were when you were on stage. You were also very devoted to the productions, and wanted to rehearse more than you wanted to do anything else.



Don't let that feeling die. There are a lot of movie stars that went to Chatsworth high school like Kevin Spacey, Val Kilmer, Mare Winningham, and Stephanie Kramer for instance. The area you are living has produced a lot of good actors.

By the way, all the photos are links to larger images. I will post more soon.



The big thing is that you do not loose the interest in theater. If you keep pursuing it, I think that you will be successful. I hope that I will be able to see you in a couple more plays before I leave.

I will write more soon, but I just wanted to remind you of your love for the theater. Remember, 95% of life is just showing up, so if you pursue your desires, success will follow.

Remember that I love you and miss you a lot. I wish I could hear from you.

Stories to Tell

Here is a short list of stories I want to get down in writing while I can.

Reinell 24 Sailboat
Trips to San Juans
Speakerlab
trip to WSU in the MG
Marine Support
Lake Union Apt
Hurricane Allen, and the girl
Sofie Bravo storm
Storm off of Cape Hatteras
Galveston Tx and Marianne (girl I met)
New Bedford
Savana
hitch hiking in Mexico
Girl at Mt. High with streeter
Alaska
Dutch Harbor
flight to St. Paul Island and landing
trip to Belize, and the way it ended
Barbara Long
Rosalind Pinney
St Clarens Ireland
Fishing
R/C Models
Music (Records vs MP3)

Trip to Mexico with Garth
Catching the halibut
Catching the BigEye

Drop Box

Trip in the White Bird to Canada

Let me think of my trip to the San Juans in the White Bird Sailboat.

Sometime in the mid 1970's, I bought a 19 foot Adkins design, gaff rigged sailboat with a good friend of mine named Brian Bylenok. The boat was a wood planked boat with a small cabin. cabin had 2 berths for sleeping, and had comfortable sitting headroom.

We originally purchased the boat from a woman in Port Townsend Washington. I was working at Speakerlab as a Stereo Store Salesman, and Manager.




I sailed the boat across the Puget Sound to Seattle where we had arranged to dock it in the ship canal between Lake Union, and Lake Washington at a houseboat that belonged to another Speakerlab friend. (Brian also worked there)

The boat was a very nice little sailor, after we added a bit to the full length keel. We just shaped a large piece of wood about 6" thick at the stern, and tapering to nothing at the bow, and bolted it to the lead keel. This increased the draft to about 2 to 2.5 feet. We also pulled the boat, and re caulked all the joints between the strip planks.




After repainting, and re varnishing all the exposed mahogany wood work, I decided to take a 2 week solo vacation in it to the San Juan Islands.

If you look at a map, you will see that to get from Lake Union to the Puget Sound, you must go through the locks in Fremont between the Puget Sound, and the 2 freshwater lakes. This trip takes at least an hour or 2 depending on the traffic through the locks.



The boat has a little 5 hp British seagull outboard on it so I was able to motor from our moorage at the houseboat to the locks. Starting the Seagull motor is something in of itself. It has a place on the top to wind a starting rope, so you can pull it, just like an old fashioned lawnmower. There is no recoil mechanism like a lawn mower, so you wind it each time. Once it starts, it is pretty reliable, although it broke down at the beginning of the sailing portion of the trip. The prop is attached to the drive shaft with a big coil spring to act as a shock absorber, and it broke. The motor would start, but the prop just spun freely.




Once I passed through the locks into the Sound, I stopped the motor, and raised the sail and started my journey by sailing back to Port Townsend.

The boat was a very primitive all wood boat with no modern accommodations, or electronics. It has a little wood burning stove in the cabin for warmth, and for cooking, but I really only used if to keep warm, and to heat water for coffee. Since there was no electricity, I hung a small kerosene lantern from one of the stays near the sail, instead of using electric running lights,. The light from the lantern would light up the sail at night to let other boats see me. I was also careful to hang a good radar reflector from the mast as high as possible so the very fast freighters would see me on their radar,and avoid running me down.



I never had any close calls, so it seemed to work just fine.

The little boat pointed pretty high into the wind after the addition to the full length keel, and was a pleasure to sail. The only navigation I had was dead reckoning with a compass, a watch, and some charts.

When I got to Port Townsend in the late evening, I decided to dock at the local marina for the remainder of the evening, to get some sleep. The next leg of the journey would be to the San Jauns across the Straight of Juan de Fuca.

Of course, being the Northwest, the weather decided to get a little rough the next day. Since the winds and seas were from the south, and I was heading north, I decided to press on with my little trip. Sailing solo with no radio or other survival gear other than a life vest may not have been the wisest thing to do, bit I was young and unafraid. In retrospect, If I was to do the same today, I would have a GPS receiver, and a good hand held radio along with a cell phone, but in those days, one did with less.

I woke up in the morning, and made a little fire in the stove. Although the stove was a miniature version of a large wood burning stove, I just burned charcoal in it. This was much easier to get, carry, and it made a lot less smoke. It also produced a fire that was a bit hotter so my morning coffee didn't take as long to make

I also carried a small white gas stove for cooking, but I usually refrained from using it in the morning, since I had a fire going anyway for warmth.

Once I was warm, and awake, I put on my Shetland Island Sweater that my mother gave me, and my rain suit. The winds were 25 to 35 knots from the south, and the swells were about 10 feet, which I didn't think was to bad for the trip. I know now, after working offshore s a navigator for seismic exploration vessels, that 25 knots and 10 foot seas is a pretty rough ride. But, with following seas, the little boat rode pretty well.

Once I was back in the sound, I found that the little boat would surf in the swells, and with my back to the wind, I made pretty good time.

My target was San Juan Island, but with the drift from the swells, and no real navigation, I really didn't know where I was when I saw the Islands after several hours of sailing. I don't really know how long the crossing took, but since the White Bird could not do much more than 6 knots, It was quite a while. The distance to Lopez Island from the Port Townsend Marina is a bit more than 20 miles, so the trip was probably about 4 hours, but it seemed a lot longer in the rough weather.

When I saw land for the first time that day, I found that I was near a little bay with three small fishing boats in it. I believe that they were fishing for salmon, but I am not really sure, However, from the shape of the inlet, I could see that it matched a bay on Lopez Island. While I had missed my target by several miles, it was really not a concern since I was not in a hurry to get anywhere.

As I sailed to the west, I could hear the fisherman shouting at me, but they were too far away to hear what they were saying. I was very near the shore, and suddenly I went aground. What the fisherman had been shouting was a warning to stay away from the shallows I now found myself stuck in. I was really fortunate that the White bird Was a shallow draft vessel, since all I needed to do was to lower the sail, and use my boat hook as a pole to push myself off the rocks. Once I was a little farther away from the shore I hoisted the sail, and continued sailing.

I had not recognized the shallows, since I had misidentified the little inlet that I was in on the chart. I was a little farther off course than I had thought, but it still was not important. Since there was no difficulty getting off the rocks, I was not too concerned. If the boat had been a fin keel type, I would have been in a bit more trouble.

To be continued
(met a girl in Friday Harbor, Lost a mast stay sailing back to Port Townsend, and had to hide (anchor) in the lee of Little D'Arcy island until the storm blew over, and I could repair the boat)

To Alex on Joining the Marines

Hey guy, the minimum age to join the military is 18, and 17 if you get permission from your parents. If I can, I will sign for you at 17 if I am still around, and you still want to join up. It might take both parents. If you go this early, you have to graduate high school first, and enter a program that pays for college when you get out for me to be on board.

I would be very proud of you if you joined the military, but you know how I feel about the different branches. I would REALLY prefer it if you got into a college ROTC program, or some other college program where you go to school, and then enter the service as an officer.

In this order from best to what I think is the worst. It is based on civilian careers afterward, and the least possibility of getting blown up or shot.
Coast Guard
Air Force
Navy
Marines
Army

I think you should take steps to become an officer no matter which branch you join. the last thing you want to be is a grunt. There are not a lot of jobs waiting for a rifleman.

My first choice would be to join the Coast Guard. The Coast Guard academy is the hardest academy of them all to get into for a reason. But, when you get out, you will have a civilian career waiting for you. Any branch of the military will teach you a lot.

The Air Force academy also is pretty hard, but even if you become an ordinary airman, life on an Air Force base is pretty good. It is the most like civilian life of them all. It will also lead you go a good job after you get out.

Unfortunately, you are going to be too tall to be a pilot. Your eyes may not pass the test either, but that can be corrected. There should not be any restrictions for anything else. Do a lot of research, don't just sign up.

The Marines are really a branch of the Navy. You even to the the naval academy, and choose to be Marine officer at graduation. The marines don't have medics for instance. They are naval personnel.

My least favorite for you would be for you to become a private in the Army. There are the fewest career paths for a grunt. An Army officer would be just fine.

BUT, no matter what you do, I think the military is a good option for you. Be sure to get into a program that will pay for college. I have always hoped that you would go to The University of Washington in Seattle. I really think you would like it there.

Cancer finally caught up with me after 8 years

This is a book entitled "Thoughts to my boys Alex Orme and Mike Orme", which I am self publishing online. It will be a work in progress available for anyone to read, since I don't expect to have the time to publish it in the normal manner.

I have so much to tell my boys, and so little time to tell it.

I am writing this in early October 2008, flat on my back, unable to walk, having been diagnosed as a paraplegic. It seems that the Prostate Cancer that I have been fighting for the last 8 years has reared up its head.

On August 11, 2008, I suddenly could not move my legs. It was very sudden. I went from shaky walking to not walking in an hour or 2.

I called my ex girlfriend Mia in Santa Barbara, and she drove out to see me. She called Dr. Juli Taguchi, my oncologist, and explained what was happening. She said to get me to an ER asap, so Mia called 911, and got an ambulance to take me to West Hills Hospital.

After a Cat Scan and an MRI, I was diagnosed with a tumor on my spine. The Doctors recommend radiation to shrink it, but also gave me the option of surgery, which it was very apparent that the surgeon did not want to perform. I insisted on the surgery.

It turns out the the tumor was metastatic (cancerous), and had damaged the nerves in my spine, which is why I could not walk (or even move my left leg). Sucks for me. I will be in the hospital, and then in a nursing home for quite a while. I can wiggle my toes, so there is hope for partial recovery. I may be able to walk, but the cancer is growing still (not all of the tumor could be removed), so my prognosos is poor. That's doctor speak for "He is going to die soon"

Now, for the thrust of this book.

All of what I relate in every blog post is to be taken as my opinion, and not necessarily as fact for any lawyers reading this.

This blog will be a little bit like the movie "Life without me", since I have no other way to talk to them.

But first some background to set the stage.

Their mother has the boys, and will not let them talk to me. She took away their cellphones and strictly monitors their internet access. Even though they are 15 year old twins, she maintains strict control over them. She home schools them so that they don't call me from school.
She has been diagnosed as having "Borderline Personality Disorder" (google it), and lives in her own reality as far as I go.

I can't help but be very disappointed that the boys have not found a way to contact me in all this time.

She and her father spent over 1.5 million dollars in court to prove that I was abusing them. When the boys psychologist testified that the boys strongly denied to him that I ever abused them, they flew in an expert from Boston at the cost of $25,000 to testify that they only said that because I had had custody of them for the last couple of years.

The Judge that heard the 27 days of testimony was out of his league. He was a retired prosecutor, with no family law experience. He evaluated the case like a criminal case, and since their mother Sandra Nelson, and her father George Nelson hired a dozen experts to testify, and I was a broke father defending myself (in Pro Per), the preponderance of the evidence was in their favor. He would not let the 14 year old twins come to court to testify, but relied completely on the testimony of hired guns.

It was like Hitler invading Poland. I did not stand a chance. It was as though 20 experts testified that the rabbit was male, even though it was a female, and the judge ruled it was male because most of the experts said it was. It does not make it true. One thing you learn in the legal system is that fact and truth are not the same thing.

It's been a year now since I have seen them. My prostate cancer finally metastasized to my spine. The tumor paralyzed me from the waist down, and I could not move my legs. My first wife Rosalind Rambus went with my sister and asked Sandy (their mom) to let them come and see me before the surgery.

She told them that she needed a letter from the doctor saying that I was dying and only had a few days to live before she would let them come and see me to say good bye.

What a bitch. She destroyed my life. She sued the wonderful woman I was living with, and destroyed our relationship. I am sure that she is laughing now that I am in the hospital without my boys or the woman I love. Yes, there is evil in the world.

I am now living in a nursing home, and can't even see my teen aged boys. My condition is listed as poor. There is nothing that I want more than to see my boys and have some time with them before I die.

I am hoping that they will read this blog sometime in the future, and know that I love them very much and miss them greatly. I know that none of this is their fault. They just happened to have the bad luck to have a mother that hates their father.

I am easy to get a hold of online, if they can.
my email is morme@gte.net

IM user names
AIM mikeandalexsdad
Yahoo mattheworme
MSN morme@gte.net

Webpages
http://www.orme.org
or
http://www.razormotors.com/orme/
if the above does not work

Future posts will be to them. Hopefully they will be able to read the advice that they won't be able to hear from me directly.

Mike, Alex, I love you very much, and miss having you in my life. The years that the three of us lived together were the best yeas of my life. I hope that we can spend some time together before I leave this earth.

Matthew